1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to improvements in and relating to an apparatus for setting buttons or the like in the proper orientations on garments.
2. Prior Art:
Machines for attaching buttons or snap fasteners to a garment are known in which for instance buttons and their mating tacks are delivered successively from their respective chutes to a coacting punch and die assembly and are attached in coupling relation to a garment held between the punch and the die. If the button bears on its exposed surface indicia such as designs, letters, trademarks, etc., it is desired that the button be oriented to the proper position with respect to a predetermined reference point or line on the garment, or stated otherwise, the manner in which the garment is worn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,666, issued Apr. 26, 1977, discloses a button orienting apparatus which includes a pusher mechanism for moving a button along a slide bracket until a tab on the reverse side of the button is caught by a pair of jaws on a locking lever mounted on the slide bracket. The pusher mechanism further moves the button until the latter is placed in a cylindrical gripping head. Then, the gripping head with the button therein is turned through a predetermined angle. Such an angular movement of the gripping head is provided by a coacting rack and pinion. The pinion is connected to the gripping head by a coupling such as a universal joint, and the rack is reciprocatively driven by an air-pressurized cylinder. Since the gripping head functions as a setting die, the tendency is that the head becomes displaced axially and/or circumferentially due to impact by the punch. The coupling is provided to absorb and prevent such displacement of the gripping head from being transmitted to the pinion, but the coupling per se is susceptible to backlash which increases with torque and impact repeatedly imposed on the coupling, with the results that the gripping head fails to perform accurate angular orientation. Further, this frequent impact causes the coupling to be distorted at its bearings, making the gripping head inoperative. Moreover, the stroke of the rack is relatively large to turn the pinion through a predetermined angle, and hence the stroke of the cylinder must be accordingly large enough, which means a prolonged length of time for the orientation of buttons.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-11682 is directed to an improvement over the above prior art, and discloses a button orientation apparatus including a finger holder having a pair of fingers for gripping a button, the holder being vertically movably and rotatably mounted on a setting die. The finger holder is provided peripherally with a first gear engageable with a second gear which is adjustably driven by a cylinder mechanism. A cylindrical sleeve holder has a rotatable sleeve in which is journalled a rotative shaft. This shaft carries the above-mentioned gears on its upper end and a cam on its lower end. The sleeve has a means engageable with the cam for stopping the rotation of the shaft as the latter turns through predetermined angles. The orientation of a button is determined by the amount of rotation of the shaft which is in turn determined by manually positioning a pin on the sleeve holder selectively in one of the apertures in the sleeve. This operation is rather complicated and tedious.